Alexandra Waldman, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Universal Standard wasted no time in defending "Plus Size Fashion Has No Future," the title of her SXSW session. She noted that if one evaluates the female apparel shopper in the United States, "A medium is now a size 18-20. If designers can get a medium right, then everything else should fall into line." The company's goal is nothing less than a sizing mind-shift. "We want to take size out of the equation." Universal Standard wants to be a brand for women, not just plus size women. They …
How Artificial Intelligence is Changing Retail, Culture, and Everything
Shoptalk and South by Southwest ran consecutively this year. In spending time at both, certain correlations stood out. The implementation of artificial intelligence in retail was examined in detail at Shoptalk, whereas its role in our overall economic activity and lives was an overarching theme in Austin at the SXSW Interactive Festival. The Term Artificial Intelligence is Becoming a Catch-All Before we go any further, it might be useful to set a baseline for AI. A simple definition of artificial intelligence according to futurist, professor, …
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The Circular Fashion Future
As Marie Kondo's https://konmari.com tidying up mantra streams into our bedrooms via Netflix, we stand, touching the clothes in our closets waiting for that spark of joy. The valuable, yet dispiriting items stuffing our wardrobes slump on their hangers, ready for the purge. But wait! The options for exploiting their value have expanded. The practice of playing our apparel forward is doing more than decluttering, it is feeding a thriving, proliferating retail channel, and spurring innovation. Thrift stores are nothing new. According to the …
The Pop-Up Steps Up
I recently visited the Hermès Carre Club in the Meatpacking District of New York. I became a member of the "Club," which existed for four days, by signing in (my data capture) with a team of Hermès clad concierges. In exchange, I wandered through the immersive experience replete with Instagrammable installations. I had the option of having my portrait drawn, watching a scarf designer execute a new design or listening to a Hermès designer discuss the creative process behind the renowned scarves. The Club had the requisite bar, which offered …
Pinteresting
Facebook's much-loved acquisition Instagram, now with over one billion users, has been a boon to users, retailers and brands. The app's initial role as a creative outlet has evolved into a tool whose prowess at customer acquisition is unmatched. While Facebook has labored to distance Instagram from the bad press surrounding its own brand image, Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have decided to unfriend Facebook after six years - and not so quietly. Their departure is yet another ding in Facebook's armor and is a catalyst for …
Innovation for the Risk-Averse Retail Radical
Micro-Risks The Lean Startup approach, based on the book by Eric Ries, is about starting small and testing until your ideas are fully baked. The book details many well-funded Silicon Valley failures, and while the examples are primarily tech-based, the lessons can be applied to all types of industries, including mature and legacy businesses. Foundational to this approach is the credo of innovation accounting: experiment, test, and measure the results…rinse and repeat until you are ready to scale your initiative, or press delete on the whole …
The Once Humble Podcast Has Arrived
Podcast’s Ascent The term “podcast” hearkens from an earlier era. Podcasts appeared after the introduction of the Apple iPod and is the only media platform named for a technology no longer in use. This American Life has been offering podcasts since 2006 but prolific content creators Tim Ferriss, Marc Maron, NPR, Slate, and others rediscovered the platform in the late 2000s and early 20-teens. Then there was Serial, and with it, a full-blown renaissance began. According to an Activate Tech & Media Study published in Statistica.com, there …
Streetwear Goes Mainstream
For those whose exposure to hip-hop doesn’t extend far beyond the Hamilton soundtrack, there was a rush to Spotify and Apple Music when Kendrick Lamar ‘s album “Damn” won the Pulitzer Prize for music. While this announcement came as a cultural jolt to many, the savvy forerunners in the worlds of fashion and retail had already embraced the ascent of street culture. Luxury Goes High/Low While streetwear styled clothing continues to make inroads into the retail ecosystem, it has emerged as a gateway to a new demographic in the hallowed halls of …